Tag Archives: religious freedom

It’s Official…Governor Dennis Daugaard has signed into law SB149 – The Faith-Based Adoption Agency Protection Act!!

From our nation’s inception, religious organizations have provided invaluable social services that have lifted people out of poverty, helped them heal, restored their families, and equipped them to one day make their own contributions to society. They do so because their faith teaches them to love and serve one another.

SB149 will now help accomplish that goal by ensuring that faith-based adoption agencies and foster care providers are not penalized under state or local laws because of their beliefs. In addition to secular agencies, and 1960 Attorneys who can facilitate adoptions, South Dakota is also blessed to have several religious agencies, like Bethany Christian Services, New Horizons Adoption Agency and Catholic Social Services that have helped countless children find loving homes. SB149 will now make sure that these agencies aren’t stripped of their licenses or threatened with closure based solely on their beliefs.

It is time that South Dakota lends a helping hand to faith-based adoption agencies and foster care providers to thank them for the helping hands that they have been to South Dakota for decades. We thank Governor Dennis Daugaard for having done just that in the signing of SB149 into law.

We would be amiss if we did not first say…To God be the Glory!!!!

Psalms 107:1 – “O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

Second…This was a TEAM effort!!!!

We more than appreciate our Prime Sponsors in Senator Solano and Representative Haugaard who carried the day presenting the case for SB149 with a “flare of excellence”.

We also so appreciate the 70 Legislators who supported SB149 as it made its way through the Senate and the House.

Congratulations to these SD Faith-Based Adoption Agencies: Catholic Social Services, Bethany Christian Services and the New Horizons Adoption Agency!

The lobbying team of the Family Heritage Alliance Action (FHA Action) and Concerned Women for America (CWA) made for an effective ‘Boots On The Ground’ presence at the Capitol advocating for the passage of SB149.

We so appreciate those South Dakotans who took the time to PRAY for this decision and those who engaged their Legislators and the Governor as well via emails and/or phone calls. We are also grateful for the assistance of our National Organizations who came to our aid in a number of ways: Family Policy Alliance, Focus On The Family, Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council. It makes a difference as we are stronger and better together!

Finally, God Bless those children in need of loving families for they truly are theBIG WINNERSwith the signing of SB149 into law!

We are grateful that President Trump has promised to protect our Constitutional freedom of religion. Now is your chance to hold him to that promise! Family Heritage Alliance, our national ally Family Policy Alliance, and our network of 40 state-based family groups have written a letter to be sent to President Trump and Vice President Pence urging them to sign an Executive Order to protect our religious freedom. Click Here to read this letter.

The Executive Order reinforces existing religious freedom protections in the law and affirms that the Administration will respect the religious freedom rights of all Americans.

The policy of the previous administration was one of systematically bullying individuals of faith, religious organizations, faith-based businesses and churches. This hostility at the federal level impacted religious freedom at the state level as well, including here in South Dakota.

Who can forget the story of Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in Washington State, who stands to lose her business and her life savings all because she refused to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding ceremony? Or what about the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns who provide care for the elderly? They were nearly forced to offer contraception in their healthcare plan simply because the Obama Administration dictated it.

Side Note: The FHA Action is supportive of South Dakota’s SB149. This bill would ensure that faith-based adoption agencies are free to continue placing children into families with a mother and a father. Catholic Social Services, Bethany Christian Services and New Horizons Adoption Agency, all in South Dakota, are at risk of closing if the state or a state agency forces them to adopt out to families other than what their convictions allow. Please write a brief email by Clicking Here and ask for the Legislators support of SB149.

President Trump also needs to hear that you believe religious freedom means more than just the freedom to worship in our churches—it means that all people, of all faiths, in all places, at all times have the freedom to live out their faith. That’s what makes our country so great. We’ve made it easy for you to make your voice heard.

Share this post and Click Here to write a message to President Trump, asking him to sign the religious freedom executive order because it:

Fulfills his campaign promise to make religious freedom a “first priority.”

Protects religious organizations against being forced to provide abortion-inducing drugs.

Defends faith-based charities (which provide over $ 1 trillion annually in benefits to Americans) from being punished by the government for peacefully operating consistently with their beliefs.